http://jeppsonsinjersey.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Superman Missionaries!
Sister Jeppson posted pictures of all the Superman missionaries that have been making a difference after Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey. It really is amazing to see and hear what has been going on. As I was looking through the pictures I was tickled pink to see Elder McLain standing with a group of other missionaries with a huge smile on his face. It made me proud.......in a good way! Thought I'd share it.
http://jeppsonsinjersey.blogspot.com/
http://jeppsonsinjersey.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Thanksgiving Down!
Ahhhh.......it's Monday! I wake up to an email saying "Hey Mom, I'll be writing my letter hopefully after you hop on the computer." THAT sure does bring a smile to my face! Today was a great day because I got not one but several emails from him - a couple of small ones but I won't complain. Especially since one of them was a long one saying he had a great Thanksgiving. So here goes......
So yes, Thanksgiving was great. We had two and a half dinner appointments and I got stuffed. And we've been fed by members for the last few days because many of them still have leftovers. We ate with a Haitian family who had a feast with lots of their native foods and then we went to a Jamaican members home and had their type of food. And I loved it. The most common thing we've had is Legum (sp.?) and it is rice with pureed beans and then chicken, pork, and beef with an okra-like vegetable and onions and some sort of gravy. It sounds simple but I love it so much. I could eat it every day. And lastly we had desert at the home of the only white family in our branch. And that was great too. We played in our annual turkey bowl football game and that was a blast, except that nobody could run since we're all sore from the service and p-day activities we've been doing. So Thanksgiving was great.
Unfortunately we didn't get to do service in Union Beach this weekend. I mentioned last week that we had completed all of the Church's work orders and so we had nothing to do because there were just too many volunteers. Obviously, there are thousands and thousands who still need help but we're advised to stay organized by completing work orders rather than just walking around looking for people to help. Since there aren't enough work orders right now, they're just having us stay home this weekend until they can create more. It's crazy how much volunteer service there is right now. And not just from Mormon Helping Hands - which makes me happy to see that.
I didn't get to be a part of the Called to Serve group but I can imagine being there would have been pretty special. Every time we sing that song (MTC, fearbuster, wherever) it brings a special spirit and I always get the chills.
1. My companion and I are still together. Some missionaries got new companions but for the most part it was a pretty small transfer conference. There were several members who were invited by President to come up and share their testimonies of their conversions and it was really neat. The ones who shared were all recent converts working on serving missions, which is always amazing to think of the widespread effect one or two missionaries can have. It spreads like wildfire.
2. Yeah - no new companion.
3. Still thinking of stuff for Christmas. Maybe chocolate. And a good Christmas CD(s). It can be by anyone as long as it doesn't have inappropriate lyrics.
4. I have a box of stuff I am planning to send back and I haven't had time to go to the post office yet. My letter is included in that. But I may be able to today since it's p-day.
5. Nah, thanks though. I don't need a throw blanket.
6. Yes I did bring cologne so I'm good for now.
I am currently in Jacob (I know I am way behind) so my goal is to read 10 pages a day and that will get me pretty close to finishing before the end of the year. It's tough because I want to study the scriptures I read but that takes too long so I am forced to just read through it. I just read Jacob 5 and I was sad because I didn't have the time to study it out and that chapter is loaded with interesting things. But props to you for making it this far! You're way ahead of me.
John and Jazmine... unfortunately we haven't seen them since last Monday. They have been really busy and cancelling appointments because they are moving out and John works all the time. We have an appointment tonight though, hopefully that pulls through! I'll let you know how that goes and that will be when they get their CTR rings! Thanks for that. Larry is a champ as always. He got confirmed two sundays ago and we weren't there to hear it but we heard it was awesome. He also was told by our Branch President that he would soon be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood! So great. And the girl with the 10 referrals, we've only been able to see one of the referrals because this last week we had very little time to teach, which was frustrating. Between our Christmas Devotional practices and transfer conference and shopping on Wednesday and service projects, we got in I think like 10 total lessons for the week, and 5 of those were with members or recent converts. Anyway, this coming week looks a little more promising which is good. Oh and in my letter I wrote about Philip and Bill - two of the crazier people I've ever met and we're trying to figure out if Philip is accountable enough to be baptized because he is sorta demanding us to baptize him. It's hilarious. I'll let you know what happens with that.
I heard about the two sister missionaries getting calls to Morristown - I already know one of them! So that will be cool when they come in. I'm sure that there will be a whole lot more too. I'll be the senior companion for the whole apartment come next transfer if I stay in East Orange (which I probably will). And I'll probably be training in the next few months so that will be exciting.
I talked to Reese a little over email just barely and it sounds like things are going pretty well for him. He's probably so excited to go to Germany. And Clark sent me a letter that made me laugh really hard so that was awesome. He has my address so I think he can just send them straight from the MTC.
I hope everything's well for you too! I love you all. Hope everyone got to say hi at Thanksgiving and glad you had a lovely time. I did too! I don't think I need anything, just more time! Haha
Love,
Tab
Tab's friend Anne Collins came by this morning while I was emailing Tab. I sent him a hello from her and he was able to reply back. I'm sure he loves messages from others besides me - especially friends. I'm grateful for his good friends! Oh, and he wrote his dad too so I must share that.
So yes, Thanksgiving was great. We had two and a half dinner appointments and I got stuffed. And we've been fed by members for the last few days because many of them still have leftovers. We ate with a Haitian family who had a feast with lots of their native foods and then we went to a Jamaican members home and had their type of food. And I loved it. The most common thing we've had is Legum (sp.?) and it is rice with pureed beans and then chicken, pork, and beef with an okra-like vegetable and onions and some sort of gravy. It sounds simple but I love it so much. I could eat it every day. And lastly we had desert at the home of the only white family in our branch. And that was great too. We played in our annual turkey bowl football game and that was a blast, except that nobody could run since we're all sore from the service and p-day activities we've been doing. So Thanksgiving was great.
Unfortunately we didn't get to do service in Union Beach this weekend. I mentioned last week that we had completed all of the Church's work orders and so we had nothing to do because there were just too many volunteers. Obviously, there are thousands and thousands who still need help but we're advised to stay organized by completing work orders rather than just walking around looking for people to help. Since there aren't enough work orders right now, they're just having us stay home this weekend until they can create more. It's crazy how much volunteer service there is right now. And not just from Mormon Helping Hands - which makes me happy to see that.
I didn't get to be a part of the Called to Serve group but I can imagine being there would have been pretty special. Every time we sing that song (MTC, fearbuster, wherever) it brings a special spirit and I always get the chills.
1. My companion and I are still together. Some missionaries got new companions but for the most part it was a pretty small transfer conference. There were several members who were invited by President to come up and share their testimonies of their conversions and it was really neat. The ones who shared were all recent converts working on serving missions, which is always amazing to think of the widespread effect one or two missionaries can have. It spreads like wildfire.
2. Yeah - no new companion.
3. Still thinking of stuff for Christmas. Maybe chocolate. And a good Christmas CD(s). It can be by anyone as long as it doesn't have inappropriate lyrics.
4. I have a box of stuff I am planning to send back and I haven't had time to go to the post office yet. My letter is included in that. But I may be able to today since it's p-day.
5. Nah, thanks though. I don't need a throw blanket.
6. Yes I did bring cologne so I'm good for now.
I am currently in Jacob (I know I am way behind) so my goal is to read 10 pages a day and that will get me pretty close to finishing before the end of the year. It's tough because I want to study the scriptures I read but that takes too long so I am forced to just read through it. I just read Jacob 5 and I was sad because I didn't have the time to study it out and that chapter is loaded with interesting things. But props to you for making it this far! You're way ahead of me.
John and Jazmine... unfortunately we haven't seen them since last Monday. They have been really busy and cancelling appointments because they are moving out and John works all the time. We have an appointment tonight though, hopefully that pulls through! I'll let you know how that goes and that will be when they get their CTR rings! Thanks for that. Larry is a champ as always. He got confirmed two sundays ago and we weren't there to hear it but we heard it was awesome. He also was told by our Branch President that he would soon be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood! So great. And the girl with the 10 referrals, we've only been able to see one of the referrals because this last week we had very little time to teach, which was frustrating. Between our Christmas Devotional practices and transfer conference and shopping on Wednesday and service projects, we got in I think like 10 total lessons for the week, and 5 of those were with members or recent converts. Anyway, this coming week looks a little more promising which is good. Oh and in my letter I wrote about Philip and Bill - two of the crazier people I've ever met and we're trying to figure out if Philip is accountable enough to be baptized because he is sorta demanding us to baptize him. It's hilarious. I'll let you know what happens with that.
I heard about the two sister missionaries getting calls to Morristown - I already know one of them! So that will be cool when they come in. I'm sure that there will be a whole lot more too. I'll be the senior companion for the whole apartment come next transfer if I stay in East Orange (which I probably will). And I'll probably be training in the next few months so that will be exciting.
I talked to Reese a little over email just barely and it sounds like things are going pretty well for him. He's probably so excited to go to Germany. And Clark sent me a letter that made me laugh really hard so that was awesome. He has my address so I think he can just send them straight from the MTC.
I hope everything's well for you too! I love you all. Hope everyone got to say hi at Thanksgiving and glad you had a lovely time. I did too! I don't think I need anything, just more time! Haha
Love,
Tab
Tab's friend Anne Collins came by this morning while I was emailing Tab. I sent him a hello from her and he was able to reply back. I'm sure he loves messages from others besides me - especially friends. I'm grateful for his good friends! Oh, and he wrote his dad too so I must share that.
Hey Dad!
I'm out of time but wanted to let you know I read your letter and I appreciate it! Sounds like you had a funny time. I'm glad to hear that your recipe for ribs is best. I wish I could eat some right now. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving and love to everyone. I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Tab
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
I LOVE MONDAYS!
I never thought I'd say this but Mondays are now my most favorite day of the week. We got a few more letters today and it's safe to say.....he really is doing just fine! Oh, and we got an added bonus this week - some pictures. A few made me laugh. It was SO tab! You'll see why.
Hi Dad,
I am going to send you a separate email as long as I have time to, and so if you don't receive a email back you'll know why. Fortunately we are back to the regular scheduled hour for emails.
Thank you for listing down things for me to write about because every time I hop on to write emails I forget everything I was planning to write about. So it's good that you reminded me of things to write about.
What am I learning? That's a question that I have a million answers for but a few things in particular are teaching simply, when to move on (with people we teach), how to use the Book of Mormon for just about anything, and listening.
So one thing I am bad about is trying to logically explain everything we teach with scripture or some sort of evidence and what often happens is that it is overbearing to the investigator. My companion is a wizard when it comes to simply explaining a principle or doctrine. He teaches so that people will understand it just well enough that it gets their brain working and it makes sense to them, but not so in depth that the person has a million questions about one lesson that took several visits to teach. I learn something new every day. I bet that is one of the main reasons why I was paired with him.
This last week we had crazy success in our finding. And we saw a few small "miracles" if you want to call them that. On Thursdays we have car fast, where we walk in our area rather than drive. I don't know why we have it but we do. So on Thursday we had no appointments anywhere close to walking distance and so we decided to just go do some street contacting. We got rejected several times, and then after about an hour we met someone who wanted to talk. And then we totally killed the opportunity because we just talked at his face and didn't really relate to him. Or get to know him. We went on our way and proceeded to just meet crazy street people who probably weren't accountable. That's kind of the way it is on the streets of East Orange - most the people we come across are.. not all the way there. Anyway, as we were walking home we still made the attempt to talk to people and when we were within a mile of home we stopped a 18/19 yr old girl and offered to leave her with a restoration pamphlet. I was reluctant to even say anything but hi because there was a train running right next to the road and cars were flying by - it was just not very prime street contacting circumstances. But after talking to her for a minute everything quieted down and she started asking us awesome questions and we found out that she and her sister were looking for a church to go to (because they were new in the area) and that she would love for us to come visit them. And then she gave us like 10 referrals! It was amazing. And then on Friday we were going to find one of our media referrals and it gave us the wrong room number, which turned out to be the home of this stud kid named Delano who lived with his family and they were interested in going back to church as well. Plus we got the right room number for the person we were trying to visit in the first place and she came to church yesterday after our first visit and committed to be baptized. So we have appointments with them this coming week and I hope that they yield some good results. So we've been very fortunate with finding and referrals.
Ok now I'm almost out of time and I still have to write to more people so I'll fill you in next week with how everything goes. Today we had what we called the Enos project where we prayed for an hour - our entire personal study. Intense stuff. I got to really think about stuff that I am thankful for and I wrote a few of the things down so that I wouldn't forget them again because they were memories I had previously forgetten about. Anyway, I really appreciate your example to me and your love and support while I'm out here. I know that it helps carry me through each day. And every time that I remember all the prayers that are in our behalf, I get super motivated to work. So thank you.
I love you and hope that everything goes well for you in the following weeks. The things you learned from your SS presidency meeting sounded pretty great. It must have been a good meeting. You'll be hearing more from me soon.
Love,
Tab
Hey Mom!
I'm sorry to inform you that I will have to write you a short email because I wrote dad a longer one and I had to do some stuff with my camera. I'll send you a few photos to keep you updated at least a little bit.
So I talked to dad about this last week but that didn't included Saturday or Sunday because we were doing service in Eatontown on those days from dusk till dawn. So I'll just give you a quick overview of how that went and then close up. I'm sending my letter today or tomorrow hopefully. Reason is because we haven't really been at our apartment much during the last few days, and we're still super busy.
We headed out on Saturday morning to Union Beach and picked up our equipment and greeted friends from the mission real quick and then departed to our designated areas of service. This time we went to a guys house that had been munched by a tree and helped him cut it apart and move it out. I got permission to use a chainsaw so that was pretty neat. Part the way through we met the neighbor named John and he was a man. He is an older guy and a scoutmaster so he knew everything about outdoors and what not and I think he was a lumberjack too because he came in and started ripping trees apart with this huge chainsaw. It was cool to watch him go at it. So we hung out with him for several hours and he taught me how to tie some useful knots. It was great. He offered a donation because he liked us so much but of course we turned him down. I really admired the guy.
Then yesterday we did the same thing. We drove in the morning to Eatontown chapel, had sacrament meeting in work clothes - we've been doing that for weeks and it's strange but great because there is this overwhelming spirit of hard work roominating in the cultural hall - and then ate breakfast and went on our way. But we ripped out drywall and plaster and basically destroyed homes instead of chopping down trees. Both are amazingly fun. There's nothing like destroying a home with crowbars with a bunch of your buddies. I'm sure it would be hilarious on film. Anyway, we did that and got to drive around looking for homes that needed help because we had already completed all of the Church's work orders for the entire area. I though that was pretty funny. We visited the beach and I stuck my foot in the water just to say that I had touched the Atlantic ocean. It was very cold. Then I taught Elder Estipona how to use a swing because he had never used a swing before. It was a random and fantastic day. Everyone is exhausted but it it a satisfactory feeling. I love serving and it is amazing to see the true colors of the people when there is a devistating storm like this hurricane. Many people have donated time and money to help those in need and it is odd how such a disaster has brought these people so close together.
Sorry if my writing is all over the place... I'm trying to fit everything in in time!
Anyway I have had a blast of a transfer (which is now over!). I hope to have more time to tell you all about it. I also hope things are going good for you and the family. Sounds like you had a busy week too! It's always a pleasure to read how things are back home. Make sure you give every one a special hi for me!
I love you,
Tab
Hi Dad,
I am going to send you a separate email as long as I have time to, and so if you don't receive a email back you'll know why. Fortunately we are back to the regular scheduled hour for emails.
Thank you for listing down things for me to write about because every time I hop on to write emails I forget everything I was planning to write about. So it's good that you reminded me of things to write about.
What am I learning? That's a question that I have a million answers for but a few things in particular are teaching simply, when to move on (with people we teach), how to use the Book of Mormon for just about anything, and listening.
So one thing I am bad about is trying to logically explain everything we teach with scripture or some sort of evidence and what often happens is that it is overbearing to the investigator. My companion is a wizard when it comes to simply explaining a principle or doctrine. He teaches so that people will understand it just well enough that it gets their brain working and it makes sense to them, but not so in depth that the person has a million questions about one lesson that took several visits to teach. I learn something new every day. I bet that is one of the main reasons why I was paired with him.
This last week we had crazy success in our finding. And we saw a few small "miracles" if you want to call them that. On Thursdays we have car fast, where we walk in our area rather than drive. I don't know why we have it but we do. So on Thursday we had no appointments anywhere close to walking distance and so we decided to just go do some street contacting. We got rejected several times, and then after about an hour we met someone who wanted to talk. And then we totally killed the opportunity because we just talked at his face and didn't really relate to him. Or get to know him. We went on our way and proceeded to just meet crazy street people who probably weren't accountable. That's kind of the way it is on the streets of East Orange - most the people we come across are.. not all the way there. Anyway, as we were walking home we still made the attempt to talk to people and when we were within a mile of home we stopped a 18/19 yr old girl and offered to leave her with a restoration pamphlet. I was reluctant to even say anything but hi because there was a train running right next to the road and cars were flying by - it was just not very prime street contacting circumstances. But after talking to her for a minute everything quieted down and she started asking us awesome questions and we found out that she and her sister were looking for a church to go to (because they were new in the area) and that she would love for us to come visit them. And then she gave us like 10 referrals! It was amazing. And then on Friday we were going to find one of our media referrals and it gave us the wrong room number, which turned out to be the home of this stud kid named Delano who lived with his family and they were interested in going back to church as well. Plus we got the right room number for the person we were trying to visit in the first place and she came to church yesterday after our first visit and committed to be baptized. So we have appointments with them this coming week and I hope that they yield some good results. So we've been very fortunate with finding and referrals.
Ok now I'm almost out of time and I still have to write to more people so I'll fill you in next week with how everything goes. Today we had what we called the Enos project where we prayed for an hour - our entire personal study. Intense stuff. I got to really think about stuff that I am thankful for and I wrote a few of the things down so that I wouldn't forget them again because they were memories I had previously forgetten about. Anyway, I really appreciate your example to me and your love and support while I'm out here. I know that it helps carry me through each day. And every time that I remember all the prayers that are in our behalf, I get super motivated to work. So thank you.
I love you and hope that everything goes well for you in the following weeks. The things you learned from your SS presidency meeting sounded pretty great. It must have been a good meeting. You'll be hearing more from me soon.
Love,
Tab
Hey Mom!
I'm sorry to inform you that I will have to write you a short email because I wrote dad a longer one and I had to do some stuff with my camera. I'll send you a few photos to keep you updated at least a little bit.
So I talked to dad about this last week but that didn't included Saturday or Sunday because we were doing service in Eatontown on those days from dusk till dawn. So I'll just give you a quick overview of how that went and then close up. I'm sending my letter today or tomorrow hopefully. Reason is because we haven't really been at our apartment much during the last few days, and we're still super busy.
We headed out on Saturday morning to Union Beach and picked up our equipment and greeted friends from the mission real quick and then departed to our designated areas of service. This time we went to a guys house that had been munched by a tree and helped him cut it apart and move it out. I got permission to use a chainsaw so that was pretty neat. Part the way through we met the neighbor named John and he was a man. He is an older guy and a scoutmaster so he knew everything about outdoors and what not and I think he was a lumberjack too because he came in and started ripping trees apart with this huge chainsaw. It was cool to watch him go at it. So we hung out with him for several hours and he taught me how to tie some useful knots. It was great. He offered a donation because he liked us so much but of course we turned him down. I really admired the guy.
Then yesterday we did the same thing. We drove in the morning to Eatontown chapel, had sacrament meeting in work clothes - we've been doing that for weeks and it's strange but great because there is this overwhelming spirit of hard work roominating in the cultural hall - and then ate breakfast and went on our way. But we ripped out drywall and plaster and basically destroyed homes instead of chopping down trees. Both are amazingly fun. There's nothing like destroying a home with crowbars with a bunch of your buddies. I'm sure it would be hilarious on film. Anyway, we did that and got to drive around looking for homes that needed help because we had already completed all of the Church's work orders for the entire area. I though that was pretty funny. We visited the beach and I stuck my foot in the water just to say that I had touched the Atlantic ocean. It was very cold. Then I taught Elder Estipona how to use a swing because he had never used a swing before. It was a random and fantastic day. Everyone is exhausted but it it a satisfactory feeling. I love serving and it is amazing to see the true colors of the people when there is a devistating storm like this hurricane. Many people have donated time and money to help those in need and it is odd how such a disaster has brought these people so close together.
Sorry if my writing is all over the place... I'm trying to fit everything in in time!
Anyway I have had a blast of a transfer (which is now over!). I hope to have more time to tell you all about it. I also hope things are going good for you and the family. Sounds like you had a busy week too! It's always a pleasure to read how things are back home. Make sure you give every one a special hi for me!
I love you,
Tab
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Doing Just Dandy!
The last few letters from Elder McLain have been.......well, let's just say, not up to standards with mom. They kept getting shorter and shorter with Tab relaying a message that all is well. After a loving reminder that if he wants letters, he has to write them too.
I sent Tab a lengthly letter on Monday morning thinking he would be writing me back since it was his p-day. Monday came and went with no reply. I got an email from my friend Cheryl (one HAPPY mom because she had received this great letter on Tuesday from her missionary) letting me know that Monday was Veteran's Day - the reason they hadn't written. Duh! Tuesday still came and went. Well, Wednesday rolled around and what do you know......an email came in. This was it:
Zone 4! 4.3 to be exact.
That was it - it was all he wrote! I had asked him which zone he was in and he answered THAT question. I think he's testing me. So I responded.......
ok ......your emails are down to 5 words! you must REALLY be swamped. i'm thinking next week it will just say Hi.
I sent Tab a lengthly letter on Monday morning thinking he would be writing me back since it was his p-day. Monday came and went with no reply. I got an email from my friend Cheryl (one HAPPY mom because she had received this great letter on Tuesday from her missionary) letting me know that Monday was Veteran's Day - the reason they hadn't written. Duh! Tuesday still came and went. Well, Wednesday rolled around and what do you know......an email came in. This was it:
Zone 4! 4.3 to be exact.
That was it - it was all he wrote! I had asked him which zone he was in and he answered THAT question. I think he's testing me. So I responded.......
ok ......your emails are down to 5 words! you must REALLY be swamped. i'm thinking next week it will just say Hi.
love you!
His reply........
6 words! No I usually just do that so that you can see that I have hopped on and that I am writing you a letter. So that way if you need to tell me anything urgent then you can.
Love you too!
Love you too!
Then BAM!!! I get this...........
Hey again!
Today I have an hour on the computer so I'll see what I can fit in.
So first I'll answer your questions and then I'll get to the letter part.
1. Yes I got all of the work clothes you sent to me and in fact it was too much stuff! Because I had already planned before I left that I would need some service clothes, and I only wear one outfit of regular clothing a week (if that), I have more than enough to last me for a long time. I will keep some of the things you sent me like the leather gloves (which are super nice) and the sweatshirt, but I don't need any more pants or shirts for now. If I do need them, I will just go to Forman Mills and buy a tall tee and jeans or whatever it is. I haven't used the boots yet and I kept the tag for them so I'll just have them as standby but I may return them to you.
2. We eat out on occasion, depending on how much food we have at home and if we are anywhere close to home. Mostly Wendy's because they are everywhere. There's not a Del Taco for 400 miles - it's in Virginia or something like that. In East Orange there isn't much but if we go to Bloomfield, which we do a few times a week, there are nice places to eat. And since next month is our temple trip, we are planning to go to a nice place for dinner in an area called Ironbound. It's an area in Newark completely surrounded by train tracks (hence the name Ironbound) and is mostly populated by Portuguese and Spanish speakers. There's a restaurant in there that is supposedly better than Rodizio Grill, but similar in format. I'm looking forward to that!
3. Thanks so much for sending the CTR rings. I know that John and Jasmine will appreciate that a lot. By the way, they are doing well. We get to see them twice a week and each time they are so so thankful that we came over. They love us.
4. My companion is super great. Super rarely we will have a disagreement but it's usually something that is like what cereal to get. And he is a good trainer. He isn't super strict. Sometimes that is bad because we don't do as much as we could so that is something we are working on together. We can always work harder and smarter.
5. Either one. If you send me a gift card I'll pay for him and if you send one for him, then he'll pay for himself. No matter. But you don't need to spoil us because we don't really need it.
6. I'm staying warm just fine for now. I know I'll need thermals soon but it hasn't really gotten very cold yet. For example, it was 61 degrees on Sunday. From what I hear, winter doesn't come in till January. And I found a super nice coat in the basement that a missionary left behind and so I don't need any coats. So you don't need to send or buy me one! And I have gloves, and a hat and socks. I should be more than fine.
Thanks for getting all that other stuff figured out that I asked for. I appreciate it.
We went to Staten Island on Sunday to do hurricane cleanup for people who lived close to the coast and it was way awesome. There's a guy in our ward named Ted Sharon who came with us and he is the most awesome guy. He is a lumberjack, but his profession is Film-making. Anyway, all we did most of the day is help him climb in huge trees with his chainsaw and chop them down. I'll have to see if I can't email you the video we took of us cutting down a ~60 foot tree. Like the guys you see on discovery channel... like that. And we gutted a few flooded homes and heard cool stories and ate great food. That is how it went Saturday and Sunday. It was a memorable weekend.
This last week we weren't able to teach that many people for some reason and that was annoying but we did what we could with that. So we have been working on finding new people to teach because our current list is getting pretty old, and many of them aren't progressing. It is really tough for me to move on because these are people I've grown to be friends with and I honestly think that given enough time, all of them would be converted. And it's difficult as missionaries because while our branch is a strong group, there are not enough members to do branch missionary work on their own. It's also hard to get member-present lessons, which I know are super important. Our branch was only established something like 5 years so that is understandable. Anyway, I feel confused at times because we have several GOLDEN investigators who we are no longer able to keep contact with. It's a bummer but it's not our work, it's the Lord's and obviously he knows what's best.
I read Rorie's letter today and I totally loved it. I like that scripture in Isaiah 61 that she left. I have never seen it before! But it sounded a lot like missionary work. I highlighted it :)
And I read the letter from Clark too. Sounds like he has an interesting district! I know he'll have a blast with them though because he can be friends with literally anyone. And I know you're jealous of his details and what not in his letters and the letters of other missionaries... I honestly don't know what to tell you. If you want me to write you about my semi-exciting stories I can! I don't think they are that unusual but I guess you know nothing of the place so they might be to you. I haven't been shot at or anything like that, so that's good. My next letter home with the photos will hopefully be more exciting than those of late. The photos I took are pretty cool ones from the hurricane and then I think I have more tech-deck videos.
I've only got about 10 minutes left and I still have to write to other people so I've got to close up. Thanks for always sending me emails and letters - they keep me going for the week.
Tell everyone hi for me and tell them I am doing just dandy. I will hit my two month mark in 5 days! That was really quick looking back on it.
Love you all!
Tab
Today I have an hour on the computer so I'll see what I can fit in.
So first I'll answer your questions and then I'll get to the letter part.
1. Yes I got all of the work clothes you sent to me and in fact it was too much stuff! Because I had already planned before I left that I would need some service clothes, and I only wear one outfit of regular clothing a week (if that), I have more than enough to last me for a long time. I will keep some of the things you sent me like the leather gloves (which are super nice) and the sweatshirt, but I don't need any more pants or shirts for now. If I do need them, I will just go to Forman Mills and buy a tall tee and jeans or whatever it is. I haven't used the boots yet and I kept the tag for them so I'll just have them as standby but I may return them to you.
2. We eat out on occasion, depending on how much food we have at home and if we are anywhere close to home. Mostly Wendy's because they are everywhere. There's not a Del Taco for 400 miles - it's in Virginia or something like that. In East Orange there isn't much but if we go to Bloomfield, which we do a few times a week, there are nice places to eat. And since next month is our temple trip, we are planning to go to a nice place for dinner in an area called Ironbound. It's an area in Newark completely surrounded by train tracks (hence the name Ironbound) and is mostly populated by Portuguese and Spanish speakers. There's a restaurant in there that is supposedly better than Rodizio Grill, but similar in format. I'm looking forward to that!
3. Thanks so much for sending the CTR rings. I know that John and Jasmine will appreciate that a lot. By the way, they are doing well. We get to see them twice a week and each time they are so so thankful that we came over. They love us.
4. My companion is super great. Super rarely we will have a disagreement but it's usually something that is like what cereal to get. And he is a good trainer. He isn't super strict. Sometimes that is bad because we don't do as much as we could so that is something we are working on together. We can always work harder and smarter.
5. Either one. If you send me a gift card I'll pay for him and if you send one for him, then he'll pay for himself. No matter. But you don't need to spoil us because we don't really need it.
6. I'm staying warm just fine for now. I know I'll need thermals soon but it hasn't really gotten very cold yet. For example, it was 61 degrees on Sunday. From what I hear, winter doesn't come in till January. And I found a super nice coat in the basement that a missionary left behind and so I don't need any coats. So you don't need to send or buy me one! And I have gloves, and a hat and socks. I should be more than fine.
Thanks for getting all that other stuff figured out that I asked for. I appreciate it.
We went to Staten Island on Sunday to do hurricane cleanup for people who lived close to the coast and it was way awesome. There's a guy in our ward named Ted Sharon who came with us and he is the most awesome guy. He is a lumberjack, but his profession is Film-making. Anyway, all we did most of the day is help him climb in huge trees with his chainsaw and chop them down. I'll have to see if I can't email you the video we took of us cutting down a ~60 foot tree. Like the guys you see on discovery channel... like that. And we gutted a few flooded homes and heard cool stories and ate great food. That is how it went Saturday and Sunday. It was a memorable weekend.
This last week we weren't able to teach that many people for some reason and that was annoying but we did what we could with that. So we have been working on finding new people to teach because our current list is getting pretty old, and many of them aren't progressing. It is really tough for me to move on because these are people I've grown to be friends with and I honestly think that given enough time, all of them would be converted. And it's difficult as missionaries because while our branch is a strong group, there are not enough members to do branch missionary work on their own. It's also hard to get member-present lessons, which I know are super important. Our branch was only established something like 5 years so that is understandable. Anyway, I feel confused at times because we have several GOLDEN investigators who we are no longer able to keep contact with. It's a bummer but it's not our work, it's the Lord's and obviously he knows what's best.
I read Rorie's letter today and I totally loved it. I like that scripture in Isaiah 61 that she left. I have never seen it before! But it sounded a lot like missionary work. I highlighted it :)
And I read the letter from Clark too. Sounds like he has an interesting district! I know he'll have a blast with them though because he can be friends with literally anyone. And I know you're jealous of his details and what not in his letters and the letters of other missionaries... I honestly don't know what to tell you. If you want me to write you about my semi-exciting stories I can! I don't think they are that unusual but I guess you know nothing of the place so they might be to you. I haven't been shot at or anything like that, so that's good. My next letter home with the photos will hopefully be more exciting than those of late. The photos I took are pretty cool ones from the hurricane and then I think I have more tech-deck videos.
I've only got about 10 minutes left and I still have to write to other people so I've got to close up. Thanks for always sending me emails and letters - they keep me going for the week.
Tell everyone hi for me and tell them I am doing just dandy. I will hit my two month mark in 5 days! That was really quick looking back on it.
Love you all!
Tab
I could only reply with......
ok i'll repent! i thought you were gone and hadn't written me. now i'll read your letter!!!!
i love you tabby!!!!
A happier mom? Yep!
A happier mom? Yep!
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